Jack Sparkes insisted Bristol Rovers have to bounce back after suffering a 3-1 defeat away to high-flying Chesterfield in Sky Bet League Two.
Despite going down to ten men in the first half, with Joel Senior shown a red card for being adjudged to have stopped a goal-scoring opportunity after fouling Armando Dobra, the Pirates were well within the contest with 20 minutes to play after substitute Isaac Hutchinson cancelled out Tom Naylor’s earlier header.
However, the Gas could not make the most of their momentum after scoring, with Luke Southwood making two excellent one-on-one saves to deny Dobra and Will Grigg before the hosts scored twice in the final few minutes.
Kyle McFadzean flicked a header past the shot-stopper from a corner to give Paul Cook’s men the advantage before Dobra completed the Spireites’ victory with a close-range finish. Sparkes reflected on another difficult afternoon to BRTV and admitted his side should have been harder to beat going into the final stages.
“It’s tough to take,” he said. “Going down to ten men was difficult, but we got ourselves back in the game, and then as a team, we’ve got to be better in the set-piece moment and the other goal as well. We should stack it up and say, let’s just take the point and be hard to beat.
“We started the game well and made it difficult for them. We probably didn’t have enough territory in their half, but we were hard to beat. The red card is never a red, let alone a foul. So, it’s disappointing, but we’ve got to move on now.
“When we got the goal, it gave us a little bit of belief, not that we didn’t have it already, but it’s just moments in games that can cost you, and that’s what’s happened today.
“There’s not much else to say other than we need to be better in those moments, and we’ve got to bounce back now, that’s four defeats. The gaffer knows what he is doing, and he will get us there.”
Despite the defeat, the Gasheads who travelled to Chesterfield could see their side put everything into the contest and clapped the players as they came across at full-time. The early kick-off time at the SMH Group Stadium did not stop 750 Rovers fans making the trip to Derbyshire, with Sparkes suggesting the Gasheads deserve more for their efforts.
“They were clapping us at the end,” said Sparkes. “So, thank you for that. The support was amazing, and at the moment, they probably deserve more.”
The Pirates do not have long until their next fixture in Sky Bet League Two and have back-to-back games at The Mem.
The Gas host newly-promoted Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night before welcoming Cambridge United to BS7 for the second time this month. Sparkes wants Rovers’ players to reflect on the season so far and has urged the team to show their true quality.
“We will reflect on the game this weekend,” said the defender. “We’ve got to look at ourselves, first and foremost, as players. Are we doing enough individually and collectively as a team? But we’ve got to go again on Monday and show the fans and show everyone we can be that team that will be up there.”
